Clutch mechanism



Dec. 30, 1924. y' 1,521,043

R. c. o sGooD CLUTCH MECHANISM f Filed July 1e, 1919 Patented Der. 3G,1924.

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ROBERT C. OSGOOD, OF CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO SULLIVANMACHINERY COMPANY, A COREORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CLUTCH MncHAnIsi/L Application led July 16,

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT C. Oscoon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Claremont, in the county of Sullivan and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ClutchMechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention relates to clutch mechanism.

It has for its objectto provide an improved clutch mechanism. A furtherobject of my inventionis to provide animproved friction clutch mechanismlwhich may be operated with a minimum of exertion, the constructionbeing such that the effort required on the part of the operator isminimized. These and other objects and advantages of my invention will,however, hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown for purposes of illustrationone embodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a clutch constructed inaccordance with my improvement, the view being taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view onv line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

In this illustrative construction it will be observed that I have showna shaft 1, herein the driving shaft, and a member 2, herein the drivenmember, journaled thereon, the latter member herein having an innerlining ring 3 keyed thereto and being adapted to be engaged by a drivingmember comprising a plurality of cooperating inner segmental frictionmembers 4 when an yoperating member 5 carried on the upper end of theshaft is suitably moved'longitudinally of the shaft. This operatingmember 5 is herein so loperated in a well known manner by `a lever (notshown) having arms 6 disposed on opposite sides thereof. As shown, thismember 5 also carries housed therein a coiled spring 7 tending normallyto depress the same, the tension of the spring being adjustable by meansof an adjusting nut 8 threaded on an upper threaded reduced extension 9on the shaft. As shown, the nut 8 is also retained in operative positionon the sha-ft by means of a locking member or disc 10 having extensions11 receivable in slots 12 on the opposite sides of the upper end of themember 191e. serial no. 511,322.

.5 so that the latter may move freely relative to the nut, and thelocking member 10 is held in position by screws 13 threaded into the nut8 and sealed in position by a sealed wire 14 extending through openingsin the upperends of the screws. Ihis retaining and sealing means,however, forms the subject matter of my co-pending application SerialNo. 806,404 filed June 21, 1919, and accordingly need not be morespecifically described herein.

In my improved construction it will be observed that an intermediatemember or spider 15 is keyed at 16 to a reduced sec-- tion 17 of theshaft 1 disposed between the main body of the shaft and the threadedportion 9. This intermediate member or spider, as shown, is providedwith radially disposed arms 18 which are received between inwardlyextending lugs 19 formed on the inner periphery or' the members 4, theconstruction being such that each arm 18 will engage one or the other ofits cooperating lugs and thereby constantly rotate the members 4. Also,it will be observed that the memberI 5 is provided with dependingportions 20 radially slotted at 20 to receive these arms 18 snugly, andradially slotted, as shown at 21, to receive with clearance on each sidethereof links 22 pivotally connected thereto at'their upper ends bymeans of pins 23. and pivotally connected at their lower ends by meansof pins 24, to lugs` 25 formed on the ends of adjacent members 4 in`such manner as to permit limited lateral play between the members 4 andthel links, the construction being such that when the member 5 is movedtoward its up position the upper ends ofthe links are raised and themembers 4 thereby moved inward relative to the arms 18 and disengagedfrom the member 3, while the member 5 is moved toward its down positionthe upper endsv of the links are lowered in such a manner as to forcethe members 4 outward along the arms 18 and into frictional engagementwith the surfaces 8, the member 4 being held in engagement therewithfirmly through the toggle action of the links 22.

In the operation of my improved construction, it will loe observed thatthe memllO served that a very small effort is required to release themember 5 and apply the friction, as distinguished from thoseconstructions wherein the movable member is splined to the shaft andnecessarily binds on the spline in such a manner as to require a fargreater pressure to operate the movable member. lt will also be observedthat in my improved construction wherein the drive is taken on themembers 18 and the connecting members yor links 22 not only form no partof the driving mechanism but have play between the same and the memberand the members 4l, these links 22 are free so that no binding results,such as in constructions heretofore proposed tended to increase theeffort required to operate the movable member. ln other words, in myii'ngroved construction it will be observed that the driving of themovable members is entirely performed by my improved intermediate memberand separated or divorced from the operating member in such a manner asn'iaterially to reduce the edort required to move the latter. These andother advantages of my improved construction will, however, be clearlyapparent to those skilled in the art.

While ll have in this application specifically described one embodimentwhich my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood thatthis form is shown for pnrposes of illustration and that the inventionmay be modified and embodied in other forms without departing from itsspirit or the scope of the appended claims.

1What l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: f

l. ln a friction clutch mechanism, driving means having a plurality ofmovable friction members, driven means having a friction surface, adriving shaft, a spider fixed thereto and having a plurality of radiallyextending driving armsk relative to which said movable friction membersare movable radially, an operating member reciprocable on said shaft andhaving engagement with and movement relative to said arms, andcooperating radially disposed toggle forming means having one endpivoted directly to both adjacent ends of adjacent movable frictionmembers with limited play therebetween and the other end pivoteddirectly to said operating member.

2. In a friction clutch mechanism, driving means having a plurality ofpairs of movable friction members, driven means having` a frictionsurface, a driving shaft, a spider fixed thereto and having radiallyextending driving arms relative to which said movable friction membersare movable radially, an operating member freely reciprocable on saidshaft and engageable with andr movable relatively to said arms, andradially disposedvtoggle linlrs pivotally connected at points betweeneach pair of said arms directly to the ends ,of 'adjacent mov ablefriction members with limited lateral play and directly to saidoperating member.

3. ln a friction clutch mechanism, a plu rality of movable frictionmembers, means presentinga cooperating friction surface, a shaft, aspider fixed thereto and having radially extending arms slidablyengageable with said movable friction members, an op erating memberreciprocable on said shaft, and radially disposed toggle links havingtheir outer ends 'directlypivoted on transverse pivots to the ends ofadjacent movable friction members with limited lateral play therebetweenand their inner ends pivot-ally connected to said operating member.

4. ln a friction clutch mechanism, a plurality of movable frictionmembers, means presenting a cooperating friction surface, a shaft, aspider xed thereto and having radially extending arms slidablyengageable with said movable friction members, an operating memberreciprocable on said shaft, and radially disposed toggle `links havingtheir outer ends directly pivoted on transverse pivots to the ends ofadjacent movable friction members with limited lateral play therebetweenand their linner ends directly pivoted on transverse pivots to saidoperating member.

5. ln a friction clutch mechanism, a plurality of independent movablefriction members, means presenting a cooperating fric tion surface, ashaft, a spider fixed thereto and having radially extending armsslidably engageable with said movable friction members, an operatingmember reciprocable on said shaft, and a series of radially disposedrigid toggle links having their outer ends journaled on transversepivots on adjacent movable friction members with limited lateral playtherebetween and their inner ends directly pivoted on transverse pivotsto said operating member with clearance between the latter and saidlinks.

6. ln a friction clutch mechanism, a plurality of movable frictionmembers, means presenting a cooperating friction surface, a shaft, aspider fixed thereto and having radially extending arms engageableslidably by said movable friction members, an operating memberreciprocable on said shaft, and radially disposed toggle links havingtheir outer ends directly pivoted on transverse pivots to the ends ofadjacent movable friction members and their inner ends directly pivotedon said operating member, said operating member being slotted to receivesaid arms.

7. ln a friction clutch mechanism, a plurality of movable frictionmembers, means presenting a cooperating friction surface, a shaft, aspider fixed thereto and having radially extending arms engageableslidably by said movable friction members, radially disposed togglelinks directly connected to said members by transverse pivots at pointsbetween each adjacent pair of said arms and each adjacent pair of saidmovable friction members, and an operating member reciprocable on saidshaft slotted to receive said arms and having intermediate slots inwhich the inner ends of said toggle links are pivoted.

8. In a friction clutch mechanism, driving means having a plurality ofmovable friction members, driven means having a friction surface, adriving shaft, a spider fixed thereto and having radially extendingdriving arms, means including spaced lugs on said movable frictionmembers engageable by said arms for rotating said movable frictionmembers, clutch operating means including an operating member freelymovable longitudinally of said driving shaft in either direction andslotted to receive said arms, and cooperating toggle mechanism connectedbetween said operating member and said driving friction members atpoints between said arms for moving said movable friction members ineither direction longitudinally of said arms.

9. In a friction clutch mechanism, driving means having a plurality ofmovable friction members, driven means having a friction surface, adriving shaft, a spider fixed thereto and having radially extendingdriving arms, means for rotating said movable friction members includingspaced lugs thereon slidably engageable with said arms, clutch operatingmeans including an operating member movable longitudinally of said shaftin either direction and slotted to receive said arms, and cooperatingtoggle mechanism 'for moving said movable friction members in eitherdirection longitudinally of said arms connected between said operatingmember and said movable friction members at points between sald arms andfreely movable between the adjacent ROBERT C. OSGOOD.

